North Highlands Smog Check

How often does my vehicle have to get tested?

Furthermore, a Smog Test is required if you market a car that is more than four model-years old and when enrolling an off-road car for the first time in California.

How can I assist my vehicle pass a North Highlands Smog Check?

Performing routine and proper maintenance depending on your owner’s manual and not tampering with the emissions-control equipment will aid in improving your car or truck ‘s odds of passing a North Highlands Smog Check. When the “Check Engine” light comes on, take your car to a licensed repair station when you can to have the issue diagnosed-do not wait for the automobile ‘s next scheduled Smog Test. A blinking or flashing light indicates a malfunction that needs to be addressed immediately to prevent serious harm to the engine or emission-control systems. Check your owner’s manual for repairs that may be covered under your car or truck maker ‘s emissions guarantee.

Which are the elements of a North Highlands Smog Check?

Smog Checks are designed to measure the quantity and type of pollutants that your vehicle is emitting. A Smog Test can contain any of the following tests:

• Visual examination of emission control components and systems
• Functional inspection of the vehicle’s search engine lighting, ignition timing, exhaust gas recirculation system, fuel evaporative system, and petrol cap
• Tailpipe emissions review

What vehicles need a North Highlands Smog Check?

Gasoline-powered vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and alternative-fuel vehicles that are model year 1976 and newer need a North Highlands Smog Check, with the following exceptions:

• Six model-years and newer don’t require a biennial (every other year) inspection.
• Four model-years and newer don’t require a change-of-ownership inspection.

To ascertain the first year per car is subject to a biennial or change-of-ownership Smog Check, add four or six, respectively, to the model year of a vehicle. As an example, a 2010 model-year vehicle will initially be subject to a biennial Smog Evaluation in 2016 (2010 6 = 2016) and also a change-of-ownership Smog Test in 2014 (2010 4 = 2014).

Diesel-powered vehicles 1998 and newer with a gross vehicle weight rating of 14,000 pounds and less need a Smog Test.

Is your North Highlands Smog Check Program biased against older vehicles?

No. Even though California law requires that the Smog Test Program to concentrate on high-polluting vehicles, the North Highlands Smog Check Program also doesn’t require older vehicles to satisfy the very same emissions standards as newer vehicles. Smog Test emissions criteria take under consideration the age, make and model of each car, to ensure a car is never held to a standard that applied when the vehicle was originally manufactured.

I have a car that is six model-years older. My DMV registration renewal note says it must have a Smog Check, but I thought it was exempt from the biennial Smog Test requirement.

A gas-powered vehicle is excused from North Highlands Smog Check until it is seven model-years older. Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) computers have been designed to recognize that the exemption and process your renewal accordingly. Contact DMV if you believe there is an error. If you cannot solve the issue with DMV, a state Referee facility may be able to help. Call the Referee Call Center in -LRB-800-RRB- 622-7733 to schedule an appointment.

What’s an Enhanced Area?

An improved Area is an urban region characterized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rather than being in conjunction with federal health standards for ozone. Vehicles enrolled in an improved Area are subject to a treadmill emissions test on a dynamometer and may require testing in a STAR-certified channel.

Have California vehicle emissions standards changed?

Yes. BAR periodically adjusts some criteria to increase their fairness. Because of this, some criteria become slightly more strict than they were previously and some slightly more lenient. California’s emissions criteria consider the model-year, vehicle make and model, and gross weight of the vehicle. Older cars have less stringent criteria than newer ones. No older vehicle is ever held to the very same criteria as a newer, more technologically innovative car or truck. Allowances are made for ordinary wear and tear in a vehicle’s emissions control system as it ages. Standards are created by means of a regulatory process and are made available for public comment before they are adopted. The last adjustment occurred in 2010.